| Role/Occupation Samurai |
| Total Entries 45 |
| Representative Tange Sazen |
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Members of the military class in feudal Japan, they had considerable social status, and after the end of the 16th century until the mid-19th century, they were the only Japanese citizens legally allowed to own swords (with the exception of swords having blades less than 24 inches, which were legally considered wakizashi and legal for non-samurai to own), causing wearing both a long and short sword (called the daishō, literally “big-little”) to become a symbol of the samurai. Theoretically, samurai were supposed to follow the bushido code of honor, which stressed loyalty to one’s master, self discipline and respectful, ethical behavior. However, the degree to which individual samurai actually adhered to bushido (which as a formal concept may be “Newer Than They Think”, according to historians, though patterns and traditions in common with the concept certainly existed throughout the centuries) varied about as much as the degree to which individual knights in Europe adhered to the code of chivalry — which is to say, you could find everything from bandits in armor to saints of the battlefield. Although women could be and frequently were warriors, the social and military rules for them were somewhat different than for men… ~ Samurai – TV Tropes
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